I'm in Austria right now.

Really unexpected, to be honest. My boyfriend had a convention to go to, and wanted me to tag along since he'd be gone for the week. I thought it was a good idea; though last time I went with him it turned out to be a major disaster, partly because of our inexperience with flying alone. 

This time went a lot more smoothly, albeit quite arduous. 24 hours of traveling which consisted of waiting. Lots and lots of waiting in the most uncomfortable chairs that anybody could ever think of. It's like years of weight seeping into the molded cushion until I felt like I was sitting on nothing but bone. I went in and out of conciousness on my 8 hour Austrian flight, sandwiched between the most fussy woman ever; toting 3 different duty free bags shoved under her chair, wrestling with blankets and traveling cushions, and my boyfriend, watching YouTube videos on his phone and as much as I love him he has the boniest shoulder ever. 

You think it's over when we arrive, no way. We land in Vienna, take a 3 hour train ride to Graz city center, then take a tram to a nearby stop by the hotel. That was the plan, anyway. We get booted off halfway through the ride, unsure why; the lady speaks in German and as soon as she finishes almost everyone on the tram groans in disappointment. Still don't know what happened, and we end up walking 20 minutes with our luggage the rest of the way. 

Finally, we are here. I'm so tired. The time difference is so stark that I find it hard to keep track. I think we're ahead by 6 hours? Or behind. 

It sounds like I hate it here, but I promise, I don't. Not yet. There's still 4 more days to prove me wrong. 

I slept the rest of the day while my boyfriend went to a work dinner, no big deal. The next day he takes me to the convention; I didn't think I was going to come but here I was, blue lanyard placed over me and a sea of European nerds at every corner. I wasn't the only person of color, but being the only woman of color is a different experience. I felt like quite an idiot in my denim miniskirt and babydoll top, like an accessory for my boyfriend to tote around while I sat for hours in talks, listening to various people discuss things like bug triaging and FOSS. Few were pretty interesting if the speaker was interesting enough, but most of it droned on and on and I would take a look around the room and think, "If I knew everything that everyone was talking about, would this be exciting for me?"

Thankfully I brought my laptop and my Canon Rebel. I think if I didn't have these things with me I'd go nuts. Walking around I'm able to snap the most beautiful photos of the city. I'm hoping we get to visit the Schlossburg, an extremely long, winding staircase in the center of the city, where once you embark on it leads you to a huge clocktower and a gorgeous view from above. And a cafe, of course. I'm not obliged to take the stairs, thank god. It's the tram for me. That and the famous Kunsthaus Graz, its giant, metal, oblong sculpture a national landmark. I think it's supposed to represent an organ, I'm not sure.

I took some photos mostly around the campus that the convention was in. It's a very, very quiet area. With my social anxiety of course I gave it no mind. The air was brisk, but I wasn't freezing. Still regretting not bringing a pair of jeans. I swear, every time you tell yourself you packed like an absolute champion, you always forget something so simple and it puts a downer on the rest of your time. Not having the comfort of changing my outfit willy-nilly proves to be such a challenge yet again. Hotels should let you do your laundry because now I just want to wear the same beaten hoodie and shorts over and over. 

It was 6:30 when we finally finished up for the day. My boyfriend had commented that there was a Thai place right by our hotel. I know, strange choice but Thai is my comfort food and I was already feeling utmost uncomfortable by such a long day. It was a tiny restaurant ran by one German man who spoke so sweet and softly. Later on we found out he owns the place with his wife who was from Thailand. Makes sense why the food was so good. 

Everything closes so early here. So, so early. Even on Saturday, when this took place. We ate at around 8pm and by then most shops had shut down by 6. I was craving a sweet, an ice cream or a gelato or something but when we finished and paid the closest place was already closed at 9. We walked home sad and ice cream-less.